Old retreads rolled down Broadway

By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

Reviewing the Broadway adaptation of The Full Monty in October, I noted
that low expectations can sometimes be a critic's best friend. Unfortunately,
I found this friend accompanying me to far too many of the stage productions
I attended this year  particularly on Broadway, where the current season
has been dominated by shows that rely on trite-and-true material and ideas.

Some of my most positive theater-related experiences weren't even plays. Seeing
Broadway legend Barbara Cook's cabaret act this fall was certainly a highlight.
So was reading Ghost Light, the recently published memoirs from former
New York Times chief drama critic Frank Rich about growing up a theater
fan in the '50s and '60s  a time when low expectations were seldom a prerequisite
for a memorable evening on Broadway.

But like the title character in my favorite production of 2000, I never lose
hope in art's ability to enchant and amaze. Here are some of the plays and musicals
that helped me maintain that hope  and some that, well, didn't.

The best

1. Meredith Willson's The Music Man. A thing of beauty is a joy
forever, so it's no surprise that Willson's classic musical comedy still shimmers
and shines. But director/choreographer Susan Stroman has infused this new production
with even more style and soul, and the superb cast, led by find-of-the-year
Craig Bierko and the always marvelous Rebecca Luker, does her vibrant vision
justice.

2. Jitney. The best new American play I saw this year actually
was penned more than 20 years ago. But no matter: August Wilson's spectacular
drama  expanded for its first New York production  addresses such
timeless issues as racism, family ties and '70s pop culture with the humor,
insight and humanistic poetry that make him a national treasure. A flawless
cast and Marion McClinton's vigorous direction don't hurt, either.

3. Proof. Novice playwright David Auburn, 31, shows wit and depth
beyond his years in this study of how reason and emotion, tragedy and triumph
intersect in the life of a scientist's brilliant but troubled daughter. Mary-Louise
Parker leads a sterling cast.

4. The Unexpected Man. Yasmina Reza's quirky, elegant, insightful
account of a man and woman who meet on a train benefits greatly from its two
players : Alan Bates, who plays an irascible author with relish, and the magnificent
Eileen Atkins, whose portrayal of a witty, worldly literary fan is a revelation.

5. The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe.
A lot has changed in the 15 years since Lily Tomlin and writer/director Jane
Wagner first brought Search to Broadway. So it's a tribute to Wagner's forward-thinking
wit, and Tomlin's energy and comic intuition, that this one-woman, multicharacter
extravaganza remains as astute, hilarious and poignant as ever.

6. Copenhagen. With all due respect to British playwright Michael
Frayn's brilliant script, it is three American actors  Philip Bosco, Blair
Brown and Michael Cumpsty  who lend urgency and warmth to this provocative
look at the psychology of faith, war and nuclear physics.

7. Richard II/Coriolanus. Ralph Fiennes playing both title roles
in this British double dose of Shakespearean tragedy may have been the main
attraction, but the supporting actors  particularly Linus Roche, cast
as both protagonists' rivals  were equally superb.

8. St. Nicholas. The Northwest premiere of Conor McPherson's
one-man play was a delight, thanks to Laurence Ballard's utterly convincing
portrayal of a very unlikely character: a cynical, cantankerous, alcoholic theater
critic.

9. A Moon for the Misbegotten. Eugene O'Neill's sweetly tragic
romance couldn't have been revived more winningly. Co-stars Gabriel Byrne, Cherry
Jones and Roy Dotrice all demonstrated the emotional acuity that this gently
devastating work demands.

2. Jane Eyre. That rumbling noise you hear throughout this overblown
Broadway lemon isn't coming from the orchestra; it's the sound of Charlotte
Brontë turning over in her grave.

3. Taller Than a Dwarf. "Weaker than a flea" more aptly
describes the lame humor in Elaine May's comedy.

4. The Dinner Party. Neil Simon ventures into the kind
of psychosexual territory previously and more deftly mined by August Strindberg
and Harold Pinter. Better he should stick to ethnically tinged middlebrow humor.

5. Seussical. Even if you like green eggs and ham, chances are
you'll find this dopey, uninspired musical adaptation of Dr. Seuss' stories
a snooze.

6. Down the Garden Paths. Anne Meara ventures into territory
previously and more deftly mined by Neil Simon.

7. Macbeth. The fault lay not with the star of this year's mercifully
short-lived Broadway revival, Frasier's Kelsey Grammer, but with the
director, who tried to pack Shakespeare's poetry and prose into a preposterously
fast-paced production that seemed like the theatrical equivalent of CliffsNotes.

8. Game Show. The $64,000 question is: Why would you shell out
money to see a cheesy off-Broadway imitation of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

9. Dirty Blonde. Nerdy, neurotic boy meets whiny, obnoxious girl
in this criminally overrated comedy-cum-Mae West homage. Why shell out money
to witness the mating dance of two people you would avoid at any party?